At the office, at home, at school or anywhere you are, stress can overcome you and take a small problem and make it seem impossible. During times of stress certain hormones work to help slow down and calm the brain. Its believed that if stress becomes chronic, these hormones remain activated and can lead to depression. Here are 10 ways to help reduce stress and help you deal better with the problems that do arise.
1. Catch those ZZZZ’s. Sleep is essential for good health, mental and emotional functioning and safety. Check out the Tools and Quizes at sleepfoundation.org. They can help you assess your satisfaction with your sleep.
2. Eat a healthy, low fat diet. You will have more energy, a stronger immune system and fewer mood swings.
3. Exercise regularly. 20 minutes a day is recommended. Check out the article at Mayo Clinic Exercise: 7 Benefits of regular physical activity.
4. Talk. Make sure you have someone that you can talk to when your facing problems. Keeping your feelings and worries to yourself will compound your problems.
5. Restrict the amount of caffeine in your diet. Caffeine is a stimulant and high amounts of caffeine can cause mood swings, lose of sleep and leave you feeling more stressed.
6. Take a deep breath. When feeling stressed our body seems to switch to short, shallow breaths causing muscle tension. Try relaxing all your muscles and take several deep, slow breaths.
7. Don’t forget to eat lunch. No matter how busy you are, or think you are, you need to eat lunch, it will help you get through the rest of the day.
8. Don’t worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
9. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Lay out your clothes, make lunches and set the breakfast table.
10. Laugh. Laughing reduces the level of stress hormones. There is a great article from about.com on The benefits of Laughter.
How do you handle stress?